Trump meets with Teamsters as he looks to peel off union voters from Biden

CNN
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Former President Donald Trump will meet Wednesday with Teamsters union leaders and members in Washington as his marketing campaign tries to drive a wedge between President Joe Biden and one in all his most loyal constituencies: organized labor.

Trump has made appealing to union members, a historically Democratic voting bloc, a key a part of his technique for successful over working-class voters, particularly within the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – all three of which broke for Biden within the 2020 election after backing Trump 4 years earlier.

Trump’s assembly with the Teamsters follows a personal get-together he had 4 weeks in the past with the union’s chief, Sean O’Brien, on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort that rankled some distinguished union members and the group’s rank-and-file. Wednesday’s gathering, on the group’s headquarters, has additionally touched off some indignant dissent contained in the union, with one govt board member in a letter to O’Brien denouncing Trump as “a recognized union buster, scab, and insurrectionist.”

“As a United States Military Veteran, I can not assist a draft dodger, and traitor who intentionally undermines the Structure of the USA,” wrote John Palmer, the group’s worldwide vice chairman at-large, who has refused to attend the assembly. “We must always by no means entertain dialogue with a candidate with such an anti-union report.”

Below O’Brien, the union, which represents an estimated 1.3 million staff – practically a 3rd of them employed by UPS, with which they agreed to a new contract final summer season – has stated it’s dedicated to chatting with a variety of candidates. In a current assertion, the union famous previous sit-downs with different presidential hopefuls, together with independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who dropped out of the GOP race earlier this month, and Democratic challengers Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips, a Minnesota congressman.

“There are critical points that must (be) addressed to enhance the lives of working folks throughout the nation, and the Teamsters Union is ensuring our members’ voices are heard as we head right into a important election yr,” O’Brien stated in an announcement after his go to to Mar-a-Lago. “We thank the previous President for taking time throughout this non-public assembly to hearken to the Teamsters’ prime priorities.”

O’Brien has stated he embraces his initials – “SOB” – and practically brawled with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, throughout a congressional listening to final fall. O’Brien had been sharply important of Mullin, who typically rails towards union leaders, and the duo appeared able to sq. up earlier than Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the committee chair, intervened in a moment that went viral.

The Teamsters have twice endorsed towards Trump, backing Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden 4 years later. However that was beneath totally different management. The Trump marketing campaign is now eyeing what it views as a chance to capitalize on divisions between labor management and the rank-and-file, a lot of whom supported him in 2016.

“We’re not ceding any territory, any group, any demographic to Joe Biden,” one senior Trump adviser stated of the marketing campaign’s outreach to working class voters.

In September, Trump passed on a GOP presidential major debate in favor of a visit to the Detroit space throughout a dramatic strike by the United Auto Staff, utilizing his speech to forged himself as a fighter for union staff whereas attacking Biden’s electrical car insurance policies. One drawback: Trump held his occasion at Drake Enterprises, a non-union auto components provider.

His assembly with the Teamsters comes per week after Biden won the endorsement of the UAW led by President Shawn Fain, who has emerged from relative obscurity to turn out to be one of many highest-profile labor leaders within the nation. And following the success of final yr’s strikes, which led to new offers with Ford, Stellantis and Basic Motors, Fain can be a preferred determine amongst progressives.

Biden will journey to Michigan on Thursday to satisfy with UAW members, based on a marketing campaign official. Final fall, he joined the UAW picket line – turning into the primary sitting president to take action – because the White Home pushed for a decision to the strikes. Biden has additionally appointed a sequence of labor-friendly leaders to important authorities roles, most notably on the Nationwide Labor Relations Board, and issued an govt order guaranteeing sure wage and labor requirements for many federal contract work. (Among the many president’s current appointees: Cole Scandaglia, the Teamsters’ senior legislative consultant, to an advisory committee on the Division of Transportation.)

Fain has been fiercely important of Trump, together with over the weekend, which led the previous president to name him a “Weapon of Mass Destruction on Auto Staff and the Car Manufacturing Trade in the USA” in a social media submit Monday. Talking to CNN a day later, Fain doubled down.

“I don’t care what Donald Trump says about me. I don’t care what he thinks about me,” Fain stated. “I care about info. And the info are very clear for the big majority of Individuals: The working-class folks have been left behind by Trump’s billionaire class, the billionaire buddies, and the financial system solely works for the rich.”

Biden has dedicated to attend his personal roundtable with Teamsters members, union spokesperson Kara Deniz informed CNN. The group stated Biden had been invited to its headquarters on the identical day as Trump.

It’s unclear when that assembly will happen, however sources say a schedule is being labored out.

CNN’s Arlette Saenz and MJ Lee contributed to this report.